Sin desvirtuar el post y siguiendo con el breve off de snake algo sobre la increible ULTIMAX 100 (un arma para tener MUY en cuenta):
The 5.56x45mm Ultimax 100 LMG/SAW (Light Machine Gun/Squad Automatic Weapon) was originally designed and developed (along with its 100-shot drum magazine) from scratch in the late 1970's/early 1980's by Jim Sullivan (L. James Sullivan) and his design/development partner Bob Waterfield for then Chartered Industries of Singapore, a.k.a. CIS (now Singapore Technologies Kinetics Land Systems, a.k.a. ST Kinetics Land Systems).
It is considered by many small arms experts to be the best 5.56mm light machine gun/squad automatic weapon (LMG/SAW) in the history of the world. DefenseReview has been writing about the Ultimax 100 LMG/SAW virtually since our inception. And, in the last year or so, we've discussed the Ultimax quite a bit. In our article on Noveske Rifleworks Weapons packages, we discussed not only what's important about he Ultimax, but also how and why it's superior to the U.S. Army's current light machine gun/squad automatic weapon (LMG/SAW), the problematic/subpar FN M249 SAW. We also mentoned the Ultimax 100 SAW in two of our articles on the Auto-Assault-12 Shotgun (AA-12 Shotgun): our first-ever blurb on the AA-12, and our more extensive article on the AA-12 and FRAG-12 12-gauge armor-piercing grenade family, published subsequently.
The reason we bring all this up is because Vincent L. Deniro (CEO) and Brian Vuksanovich (Chief Engineer) at American Defense Management, Inc. (ADM) have developed a bunch of modifications to the Ultimax 100 MK3 for VT Kinetics/Vision Technologies Systems, Inc. (VT Systems, Inc.) to create the... Ultimax 100 MK4 LMG/SAW (5.56mm). One of these modifications is a 4179 STANAG AR-15/M16 magazine adapter that allows the Ultimax MK4 to accept both 30-round AR-15/M16 mags and 100-shot Beta C-MAGs.
A Note on the C-MAG: The original C-MAG was also designed and developed by Jim Sullivan. Before The BETA Company (a.k.a. BETA Co.) changed the TDP (technical data package) on the C-MAG, the original design's double-drum magazine body was made from a type of nylon, and the center feed portion (box mag portion) was made of steel and didn't rise above the double-drum portion like it does now. Both of these material aspects were on purpose. Because the double-drum portion was made of nylon, the original C-MAG worked reliably without the need for any type of lubricant. In other words, it didn't require graphite powder lubrication to move the ammo/cartridges around the drums reliably. BETA Co. changed the nylon double-drum portion to a different material (a type of plastic/polymer) and changed the center feed portion to polymer/plastic, in the process making the center feed portion taller (due to the need to reinforce this part to prevent cracking/sheering during firing). One good thing the BETA Co. has done to the BETA C-MAG recently is to make the back plate of the C-MAG clear (Lexan), just like the latest factory Ultimax 100 drum mag (also 100-shots) back plate, so the operator can keep track of his ammo supply visually, during the fight.
The Ultimax 100 MK4 fires from the open-bolt, fires at a cyclic rate/rate-of-fire (ROF) of 400-600 RPM (Rounds-Per-Minute), and can be adjusted between these two rates by the operator. The MK4 can be had with a 13-inch barrel, side-folding buttstock, and Mil-Std-1913 rail system on top of the receiver (for mounting optics, lasers, etc.) and on the forend at the 3, 6, and 9 o'clock positions for mounting additional accessories (tactical white lights, lasers, vertical foregrips, etc.).
Just like all versions of the Ultimax before it, the Ultimax MK4 utilizes the "Constant-Recoil" principle (invented by Jim Sullivan specifically for the Ultimax) to control recoil, instead of relying on receiver weight, like other machine guns. Constant-Recoil is what allows the Ultimax to outhit heavier machine guns (chambered in the same caliber) on full-auto. By greatly reducing felt-recoil and muzzle rise, weapon controllability on full-auto is greatly increased. The result is more hits on target. This recoil attenuation/mitigation aspect makes the Ultimax the most contollable LMG/SAW in the world, even though it's also the lightest-weight LMG/SAW in the world.
CONCLUSION
5.56mm/.223 caliber SAWs that are belt fed, like the M249, are NOT needed and the Ultimax is MORE effective because:
a) the operator can reload “on the run” and while standing with ease
b) belt fed SAWs have more parts that are prone to breakage and malfunctioning when dirty
c) reloading is much faster with the Ultimax.
d) Ultimax is 5lbs lighter
e) Ultimax 100 round drum is more reliable (keeps ammo clean) than disintegrating belts and more reliable than the Beta C-mag (it will fire these as well.)
Machine-guns which are belt-fed in .30 caliber or larger are effective because they are used in a stationary role by providing sustained cover fire, many times at a greater distance than the 5.56 and at harder targets.